Share this with

Fidel Castro greets a group of Venezuelan citizens in the city of Havana (Picture: Rex)

After having led Cuba for half a century, many believed that Fidel Castro had died and the country’s authorities were just waiting to announce his death at the right time.

However, the communist revolutionary leader has made his first public appearance in 14 months.

He was pictured wearing an Adidas tracksuit in a minibus, shaking hands and chatting to well-wishers.

In February and March of this year, official Cuban media published photographs of Castro taken during private meetings with a Cuban student leader, Cuban agents who were freed from prison in December, and with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Castro stepped aside temporarily as president due to serious illness in July 2006, and his brother Raul took over permanently in February 2008 after he was elected the country’s new leader.